Questions emerge about Mercury Broadband's coverage in Michigan

Chris Scharrer, founder and CEO of DCS Technology Design, claims that Mercury Broadband has overstated its ability to provide fixed wireless access (FWA) in 12 Michigan counties on the FCC’s broadband map. And he says this is deterring other providers from competing for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants. Scharrer has mapping data that shows Mercury has claimed it provides practically ubiquitous coverage across 12 counties in Southern Michigan. Scharrer said this is a misrepresentation that is preventing new competitors from entering the counties. DCS Technology Design works with the counties to provide them with validated data for all served and unserved locations. Scharrer said the FWA coverage Mercury is claiming has reduced the BEAD eligibility in those counties by about 61,000 houses. There’s a big hurdle in challenging Mercury—if county governments want to submit a challenge, they must find Mercury customers who can attest that they aren’t receiving the necessary speeds. But it’s difficult to find any FWA customers of Mercury in those counties, at all.